How Many Bank Accounts Do I Really Need? 

My parents were Depression kids so they had their money in banks *all over town.* it was really fun trying to straighten all that out when one had passed and the other had dementia!

At one bank we have a checking account with no debit card that all our fixed monthly expenses come out of via auto pay, another checking account with a debit card we pay variable expenses like food and gas, and an emergency fund savings account. We have a second savings account at a local credit union that is a large expense fund. The third savings is a 4.5% interest bearing savings account that all our unexpected income goes to (bonus, etc).What we wished someone taught us when we were younger is to resist increasing your expenses as your income increases. Save as much as you can.

Our bank allows us to have multiple online savings accounts so we have the one account that all money comes into, then we transfer into specific accounts such as; car/annual bills, monthly bills, groceries, savings, etc. works well!

i like having my emergency fund in a separate bank just to keep it kind of "out of sight out of mind" + makes it kind of a process to access. Still easy to get to in an emergency but enough of a process that I have to think "is this really an emergency where I should be touching this money"

Australia may do banking entirely different to America, but here some home loans offer multiple “offset” accounts with no fees with your home loan. We have a few checking accounts (Bills, emergency fund, daily expenses, kids accounts, splurge etc) however every dollar in every account is linked to our Home Loan so we get a huge interest saving each month for the cash we keep. Rather than earning 0.25% we instead can save 2-3% on the loan charge. You’re mathematically about 10x better off and (in Australia at least), you pay tax on interest earned in a savings but don’t pay any tax from saving money on interest charges. I’d only recommend this if it comes with no annual or monthly fees, but if it’s available to you it’s worth checking out. ☺️

My husband and I have two checking accounts with one bank. One is for our paychecks to deposit and where the bills come out of. The other is our spending account. That way we never accidentally spend money that was supposed to be for a bill.

Common checking Common savings (create buckets in the account for each goal) Separate checking/savings for guilt free money to spend All money goes into common, then send money into other accounts after common goals are handled

I think it’s a good idea to have a bank out with two different banks. Especially if you travel internationally. I was once traveling and only had my one debit card and the atm sucked it up into the machine. I couldn’t get it back and had no money so I had to have a family member wire me money until I traveled back home. It was a huge hassle and also dumb to have so much cash on me in Central America. After that I got another bank account and have a credit card as back up just in case.

We have four. Checking, main savings and one savings for each of the kids. Really there's no limit. Just look over your budget and do some planning. And you can always close and transfer money if you ever need more or fewer accounts.

i like dave ramsey but i disagree with this . coming from a security point of view (cyber security). depending on your net worth, you shouldnt have all your eggs in one basket . you should have different accounts with different banks. in case one checking account gets taken by online fraud then you want to have a back up for everyday purchases. also if one bank or brokerage goes under you want to have access to another . again too many accounts is a thing but all your money in one account is not safe.

I've opened up 25 bank accounts this year and have collected $3200 in sign up bonuses non those bank accounts.

We have separate checking accounts and one shared savings. We like it that way, because our individuel checking accounts are essentially drop boxes for our paychecks. I think it's nice to keep individuel checkings, because you can still pull of a surprise for the other spouse without them knowing right away 😉

I have a savings account just for real estate payments, we have two. That way I can set those dollars aside throughout the month and it is automatically deducted from that account every month. It keeps me from needing to do much math.

Don’t do this if you live in the UK if you have over £85k cash. You are only covered up to £85k in each account. Be careful though some banks are owned by other banks so make sure your bank accounts are rivals.

My wife has a background in accounting. We manage everything with a bookkeeping book. It would stress me out to have bank accounts all over the place.

Excellent tips!!

Understand that it may be wise for people to have some separate accounts. For instance, my husband got an inheritance from his parents. That was put in a separate account. I refuse to give any input on how he uses those funds Assets held before you marry are often considered separate property. My husband and I have community funds together. We have been married 42 years, and have been completely dept free for about 25 years.

I have exactly the same with our account, John. We have lots of sun accounts in our main account.

With online accounts today it really doesn't matter much if you have multiple accounts (no running around to multiple banks). Assuming none of them charges a fee.

One checking account for all household income. One checking account for each person in the household for their spending money. One savings account for short term needs and emergency fund. If you're saving for a down payment to be used in the next 12 months, you'd put it in the savings account. One individual investment account for long term savings. One investment account for each retirement account and health savings account provided by an employer. When the kids are old enough, they need savings and an individual investment account as well to save for college or a house or a business when they're old enough.

Only reason I bank with multiple banks is they charge interest over savings above a certain amount. By splitting it, I don’t have to pay interest for savings.. I know in the us you don’t pay interest yet but in Europe it’s real!!

One checking account for day-to-day spending. One saving account with a small, but better return, for emergency cash and renovation savings.

i have a checking at my local bank but the interest is horrible. Everything else is in high yields

Sofi has nice virtual savings accounts (vault) which looks like separate account, but it is not. I have it like just savings, car insurance vault, tires vaults etc.

Well? U need a Christmas account; savings account; health savings account, to pay deductible or remaining balance left; grocery account; We all need to budget. In a business? It needs it's own account. Separated from your personal. And possibly an expense only account.

Situation will dictate, but there's no need to have a whole bunch of accounts, but many people may need separate accounts to better manage their money because keeping all their eggs in one basket can cause them to overspend

I like having two banks just because if something happen and I need to do something and the bank web is down I can just move to the other acct. It doesn't happen often but every once in a while it does. Its worth it to know if I do something dumb and lock myself out after hours I'm not waiting on someone to reset to send someone else a pmt.

My online bank has buckets for the savings account so I can sort out my stuff. 👍

I can relate I have 10 accounts and I closed six coz it’s hard to know how much is my money

Never even put all your eggs in one basket....BANK...don't trust banks

This was a really interesting video overall. Not sure this had been addressed before! With all that said, I’m curious if different Ramsey personalities would have differing approaches, as I can see multiple ways to skin this cat.

A joint account comes in handy for gift/money transfers between spouses and for depositing a check written to both spouses.

i have a dispute with a medical office and they are saying i agreed to something i never agreed to and now they are saying it cannot be "undone" and it amounts to about 240$ a month for a year. Now , i agreed to doing TRT and they tried to talk me into taking another drug. i had never gotten a dose of the 2nd drug, and now they are saying it cannot be undone and i have to pay for it for a year anyways. Now i was considering telling my bank i misplaced my card, but if they have my acc# it wont matter if card # changes...so cant i in theory, open another account somewhere else with say a few bucks and then transfer the rest from old bank into the new banks account which will have a new account number that the medical office doesnt have? I am trying to avoid spending hours on phone disputing this charge and weeks to finalize it... I know the medical office wont sue me, they are straight up scammers.

I had bank accounts everywhere 🤣🤣

One of my mother's coworkers got screwed by only having her money in one bank. The bank was bought by a larger bank and somehow during the merger they lost all her money. Took months to fix it.

So why have many different accounts vs keeping track of what goes for what in Every dollar?

Dude they are both making things super complicated. One checking account that all your money goes into. Then one savings account and you are done. I just keep a spreadsheet that I keep track of my sinking funds in. So if I have $20k in savings there is a column in my spreadsheet that say $2k car repair, $3k house repair, $10k emergency fund, etc.

What online savings account you recommend?

Everyone’s device will be a bank in the future.

Ok clark ken relax😂💪

Never put all of your eggs in one basket.

Ally offers buckets within one savings account

Shouldn't it be as many as it takes to not exceed the FDIC insured amount?

Ideally just 2. A checking account someplace local for monthly expenses, and savings overseas for everything else that is no one's business.

Things are getting worse, it’s so bad that having a job doesn’t mean financial security on

Man i remebet when i married my wife. My inlaws were PISSED that my wife and i joined bank accounts and phone plans.

My wife and i technically got 3 her credit union my online bank and my brink and motor bank… it’s working out well

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

How do you get paid at ramsey solutions

OK is it OK to have multiple prepaid debit cards plus a bank debit card and for people with disabilities is it OK to invest😊

What is a sub account?

how do I close all my bank accounts

Can u trust an online high yielding accoubt

Heard from Steve Harvey when asked about the same thing, anx he said a financial person told him to have 4 accounts. One joint account and that's where you pay all the bills, after the bills are paid you put money in a joint savings account, then split down the middle for two personal accounts so you can live your own lives and not have to always check with the other. That way the bills are paid, money's in savings & you have money to enjoy and play with

They never answered the question that the caller had asked. They were looking for a number, not what the hosts did or did not do for themselves. Tip #1: If people call for advice, answer the question, please. Your local bank advisor can be a better to help you than this.

Zero “Bail in laws”

So when the bank fails as banks sometimes do….all of your wealth is gone. These guys don’t have a clue if this is the advice they’re giving. Think ‘Simple’ 😢. Marriage is by no way simple especially if things go wrong….and that’s usually for the man. My advice would be to plan for all outcomes, even the ones you can’t bare to think about

1% APY on a savings account is abysmal these days. A money guy should not think that's "crushing the game." Yet more proof of Ramsey and his team being out of touch. I've been making well over 4% since long before they posted this video.

How where do I create an emergency account

vacation...

I think it is best to keep separate accounts and just split bills if both are working. No need to monitor each others accounts if you trust each other and are open and transparent. You can still set goals to save together, while in separate accounts.....it can even get fun.....see who can save 50k the fastest....etc.. And if things go south...there is no trouble in separating funds in accounts because they were never combined......no risk of anyone stealing anyone else money etc.....

One checking, one savings, simple

Are there any pros to getting married?

Ho! "A lagging fund because the way we get paid here at Ramsey's solution so I will dump💲into that one and hold it so I can continue to pay my house off" Whass up wit dat?😕

Never ever share bank accounts and tell the spouse how much money you have. Everyone should have their own bank accounts even if married. So many golddiggers nowadays that just want your money and will divorce you once it runs out

Not trying to be smarty pants, but just two accounts will do. One is saving and one is checking. DONE!

Dude sounds like kermit the frog

You need one bank. One that you trust.

I have two, one I inherited. *sigh*

For the financial planner pick the one that you understand and has the best advice

High yield saving account. What Planet is he from? 👽

Get more money and assets than those in this comment section and understand everyone is wrong.

You NEED one bank account. There can be justification for over 100 accounts...

BAD ADVICE!!! look at all the branch closings and turmoil going on in the banking world right now. They're right here on RU-vid... Just like diversification with investing (not keeping all of your eggs in one basket). Best advised to have at lease two separate banks.

All you need: 1.Checking account to pay bills. 2.Savings account for emergency fund. 3.Brokerage account for investments/retirement. 4.Crypto exchange account or hard wallet for speculative assets.

The caller should have at least three accounts. One is the shared account with the wife. One is her account. And one for the mistress or to save up for the impending divorce lawyer. 😉

Never did they mention FDIC insurance limits. These guys are not qualified to teach personal finance.

🤓👍✌👌🖖😎

2nd

Fake Caller!